Duluth and Iron Range Railroad Company Depot - Two Harbors, Minnesota
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 47° 01.135 W 091° 40.210
15T E 601064 N 5208124
Historic passenger railroad depot in Two Harbors, Minnesota.
Waymark Code: WM2QF1
Location: Minnesota, United States
Date Posted: 12/07/2007
Views: 128
Two Harbors owes its very existence to the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad
(D&IR), established in 1883 to transport iron ore from the Vermilion Range for
shipping to steel mills via the Great Lakes. The Rail road chose Agate
Bay, renamed Two Harbors in 1888, for a terminus because it was relatively close
to the mines, but more importantly, because the clay bottom bay, rare along the
rocky Lake Superior shores, made construction easier.
Besides over 8,000,000 tons of iron ore annually, the D&IR was
transporting freight and passengers by 1907, necessitating the construction of a
depot. The railroad established its headquarters and corporate offices in
the 110' x 44', two-story, brick building. When merged with the Duluth,
Missabe and Northern Railway in 1937, the railroad became known as the Duluth,
Missabe and Iron Range Railway and continued to serve local passenger and
freight needs until 1960.
In 1961, the railroad allowed Lake County Historical Society to establish
a museum in the depot. This was appropriate sine Thomas Owens, Superintendent of
the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad, was responsible for establishing the
Historical Society in 1925. Ownership of the building transferred to the
Society in 1980. ~ text of marker